Okay. I appreciate comments…but I'd like to ask everyone to refrain from 1-word comments. Thank you.
I'm just putting this out there cause yeah. I have no plan for this chapter whatsoever. I'm just winging it.
I made a nasty typo, and I fixed it lol.
Chapter 24: Like hell I will
"E-Excuse me?" Naruto said completely dumbfounded.
"I want to marry you!" Kanako said with a smile. Without a second's thought or hesitation Naruto replied with a simple,
"NO!" Naruto put on his angry pouting face. "Besides, there are too many things I haven't done yet. Like…" Naruto thought for several seconds but nothing came to mind. "…Uhh…THINGS!" He proclaimed very proudly.
"Well then I'll just settle for being your girlfriend!" Kanako said happily. "Now gimme a kiss!" Right as she was about to kiss him, Naruto's shadow clone disappeared. "What the?" Kanako asked puzzled. "Where'd you go honey?"
"I'm outside!" Another shadow clone yelled from outside. "Catch me if ya can!"
"Ooh, you tease!" Kanako said as she ran out the door after the shadow clone. After several seconds the real Naruto dropped down from the ceiling.
"Okay, I'm officially traumatized." Naruto said with a sigh. "I'm gonna lock myself in my room for a few hours…"
"Let's have a party in Naruto's room!" Tenten suggested.
"Why?" Both Naruto and Sasuke asked at the same time. They looked at each other and smirked.
"You guys are no fun." Tenten complained.
"I'm not supposed to be fun." Sasuke stated. "I'm supposed to be the cold, handsome, mysterious character who's out for revenge that leaves all the girls screaming while all the men hate me." There was a long silence.
"Annnyyywwwaayyysss…" Naruto said. "I'm going to my room before that psycho girl realizes that's not the real me." He turned and waved as he exited.
A few hours had passed and Naruto decided to utilize the exercise equipment. After about 20 minutes a soft knock came at the door. Naruto walked up to the door and looked through the peephole to make sure it wasn't his stalker.
"Oh, Hina-chan." Naruto opened the door and smiled at the girl standing there. "Come on in." He said with a smile. Hinata prudently stepped into the room. She was looking around, obviously very uncomfortable, as if she expected a dozen paparazzi to appear from nowhere and take pictures of her and Naruto alone in a room. Naruto beckoned Hinata to a table where she sat herself down. She did it. She and Naruto were alone in a room. Despite this accomplishment, she was unsure of what to do after she had gotten into that room. "Soooo wassup?"
"N-Not much Naruto-kun." She said with an awkward smile, she desperately tried to think of something to talk about. She landed on the only topic he might find interesting. "You missed the end of our meeting and I thought I should fill you in…" Her voice trailed off as Naruto sighed. "If you don't want me to…"
"No, it's not that Hina-chan…" He slid down in his chair. "It's just that when you talked about the meeting, it made me think of that crazy girl."
"What are you going to do about that…?" Hinata asked quietly. "Surely you won't…"
"Course not!" Naruto exclaimed. "No way I'd go for a girl like that." Hinata sighed with relief. "Hmm?" Naruto questioned, noticing the sigh. "What's wrong?"
"N-Nothing!" She said much too defensively. Naruto however, didn't pick up on it.
"Oh, kay." He said scratching the back of his head. "Uhh…" Naruto didn't know what to do, he'd never really had a girl in his room before. He had had Sakura come over and drag him out of bed in the past, but he'd never have to entertain her. "You…uh…want some tea?"
"That'd be nice." Hinata said with her shy smile. "But I don't want to be a bother…"
"No bother at all!" Naruto said with feigned excitement. "I'll just make some tea, then you can tell me all about that meeting!"
"F-Fun times…" Hinata said trying to mimic Naruto's enthusiasm. She soon regretted what she said as both of them realized what she said. "Umm…" This conversation was just incredibly awkward.
"So…what kind of tea do you like…?" Naruto asked. "Green or…" He looked at the selection that was provided in the cabinet. There were about ten boxes of green tea lined up inside. "…Green it is." He said with a sigh. He went to put some water on the stove. He looked at the strange contraption in front of him. "What…is this rumpus?" It certainly wasn't a type of stove he'd ever seen before. There were strange illuminated green numbers and a variety of circles, both large and small. "Ummm…" Naruto was distressed, he wanted to impress his guest, who happened to be Hinata, the girl he liked. However, he was failing to impress anyone at this rate.
"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked politely.
"I'll have it ready in…"
"Why don't we just forget the tea?"
"O…okay…" Naruto had failed. He could overcome overwhelming odds on the battlefield but this strange glowing contraption had defeated him. What a world. "Anyways…" Naruto said desperately trying to change the topic. "What about this meeting?"
"Right," Hinata said with a smile. "Well since these negotiations are going to take a while, we're going to each be assigned Cloud jounin."
"Why…?" Naruto asked.
"To guide and train us."
"Wait…how long are these negotiations going to take…?"
"They predicted at least two years, if everything goes smoothly." Naruto's jaw dropped.
"You mean…I have two years before I have anything interesting happen?"
"That's not true." Hinata explained. "You'll be getting trained…I know how you like that." Naruto nodded with a sigh. "And I hear the Chuunin exams will be hosted here in two years."
"REALLY?!" Naruto screamed with delight causing Hinata to shy away a little.
"Y-yes…"
"AWESOME!" Naruto yelled again. "This time I'll become a Chuunin for sure!" He pumped his fists in the air. Hinata smiled at him, he may have grown up some, but he was still a little kid on the inside. He stood up and walked over to Hinata. "Just you wait! I'm gonna kick some major ass!" He started flailing around like he was in combat. In doing so he accidentally kicked the chair Hinata was on causing it to tip over with Hinata still on it. Utilizing his ninja-like reaction time Naruto turned to save Hinata, only to have his legs knocked out by the chair. Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the cold floor to greet his face. However, Naruto's face landed on something soft. He heard a small "meep" noise. He hoisted himself up to figure out what happened. Naruto had managed to land in the most classic anime position EVER. Hinata was on her back and Naruto had his hands on either side of Hinata's head. It was the classic "Oh no I accidentally fell on you and if anyone were to walk into the room right now we'd be screwed because it looks like we were about to do something dirty" position. Now the only thing missing was… (Okay that was like the longest paragraph ever.)
"Oi Naruto!" Kaoshi said as he kicked open the door. "Wassup?!" Bingo. Kaoshi looked down and saw the pair. He stood there for several seconds, just blinking. Kaoshi slowly started to smile. "I see." Kaoshi placed his hand on his chin. "I approve. Soooo should I come back later or…?"
After suddenly realizing what had just happened, both Naruto and Hinata flew to their feet.
"I-I-I-I-I-I-It's not like that!!!!" Both of them yelled, blushing immensely.
"It's okay, I understand that you're at that age."
"IT'SNOTLIKETHATPLEASELETMEEXPLAINWHATHAPPENED!!" Naruto yelled.
A few minutes later everything had been cleared up.
"But that's so much more boring…" Kaoshi complained…
"BUT THAT'S HOW IT IS!" Naruto yelled.
"Sheesh, chill out." Kaoshi said with a sigh.
"Ow…" Hinata said suddenly realizing her chest hurt.
"What's wrong Hina-chan?" Naruto asked, suddenly calm.
"My…ummm…" she started blushing even more.
"What?"
"My…ummm…" She had to do this without actually saying it. She placed her hand over her breast. "…Hurts…" she said blushing.
Naruto's face turned bright red as he realized what the soft thing he landed on was. A small trickle of blood started to run from his nose.
"NARUTO YOU SLY DOG!!" Kaoshi yelled slapping Naruto on the back.
"NO! I DIDN'T MEAN TO…!" He looked at Hinata who drew away from him. "GOMENESAI!!" He yelled. "GOMENGOMENGOMENGOMENGOMENGOMEN!!"
"I-I-It's o-okay N-Naruto-kun…" She said blushing. "You didn't mean to…"
"Doesn't change the fact that he enjoyed it." Kaoshi said. With a smile he added. "If he didn't my suspicions about him being gay are true." Naruto's I'm-not-gay instincts kicked in.
"Of course I did!" He then realized what he just said. "UMMM, UHHH, KAOSHI YOU BASTARD!" Kaoshi just laughed. Hinata's face was bright red. She didn't know whether or not to be complimented or feel violated. "HINA-CHAN I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO…HE JUST…AUUUGGHH!!" Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He rushed to the window and jumped out.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said surprisingly without stuttering.
"Hehe, don't be mad at him Hinata-chan." Kaoshi said as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"I'm not…" She said still completely red. "Could you not tell anyone…?"
"My lips are sealed." Hinata sighed with relief. "Anyways we should probably go find him before he hurts himself." Hinata smiled.
"Hai."
Hinata and Kaoshi couldn't split up because the Leaf Ninja weren't allowed to wander about on their own. It took them a few hours to find Naruto. He was sitting on a cliff watching the sunset.
"Neh," Kaoshi whispered. "Why don't you go talk to him?" Kaoshi smiled. "He's probably still mad at me." Hinata smiled and nodded.
"He's not like that." She told him. "He's probably already forgiven you and is more concerned that I'm mad at him."
"Good luck kiddo." Kaoshi smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
"Thank you." She said as she approached Naruto.
Hearing the footsteps behind him, Naruto looked back and saw Hinata coming. He felt a shiver go up his spine as she sat down next to him.
"Hi." She said simply.
"Hi…" he responded. There was a long silence. "Aren't you gonna yell at me…?"
"Why?" Hinata asked.
"Because I did that…and…liked it…" He buried his head in his arms.
"No." Hinata said simply.
"Why not…?" Naruto asked, not moving.
"To be honest…I didn't know what to make of it at first…" She said looking at the sky. "After I had a chance to think about it for a little, I did feel somewhat violated."
"I'm sorry…" Naruto said.
"Don't be…" Hinata said placing her hand on his shoulder. "After I thought about it more…I realized that I was actually kind of flattered…" This was not something Naruto expected. He lifted his head up and looked at her.
"What…?"
"I realized that it's only natural for boys to like that kind of stuff…" She said with a smile. "You and your licentious minds can't get enough of it." She looked away a little. "And…"
"And…?"
"It means…you…find me…attractive…as a woman…" Naruto was confused. Why was that something that mattered? Most girls would bop him upside the head and yell at him. "Right…?" She looked at him. He couldn't tell if she was blushing or not because of the red setting sun.
"Yes…" Naruto thought for a second. Was this the Hinata he knew? "Hina-chan, you're acting really out of character…"
"I know…that's because if I don't this whole situation wouldn't work as the author intends it." (Honestly I'm just making it up as I go )
"Ah."
Despite the fact that she had made a major hole in the fourth wall, Hinata was unable to explain why she was so full of confidence. She had never felt like this before. Maybe now was the time to…
"Neh, Hina-chan." She looked at him as she lost her train of thought. "You rule." Hinata smiled at the blonde.
"Man I'm so bored…" Kyubi said suddenly. "You haven't called on my chakra in ages…"
Naruto had almost forgotten about him. The reason for all his troubles, the reason for everyone hating and shunning him, was still residing in his stomach. He couldn't ask Hinata out if she didn't know about the Kyubi.
"What do you think Hina-chan would think if she found out about you…?"
"Eh? She'd probably hate you." Naruto winced. It made sense though.
"Neh…Hina-chan…" Naruto said, suddenly quiet.
"What is it Naruto-kun?"
"What would you do if you found out something terrible about one of your friends?" This question took Hinata completely off guard.
"What do you…"
"What if one of your friends had a terrible secret that if anyone was told, they'd probably be hated?" Hinata thought for a moment. She had not expected anything like this to happen. If he was asking, either him, or one of the others had a terrible secret. She thought back to the academy days when he was completely exiled from the group. She figured it must be him.
"I'd ask for an explanation for sure…"
"Then…?"
"Depending on that I'd make my decision…"
"Ah…"
"Do you have a secret Naruto…?"
"ME?!" He didn't think she'd see through him so well. Moron. "Umm…"
"Do you…" Hinata gulped. "Want to tell me?"
"I don't want you to hate me…" he said as he buried his head in his arms again.
"I could never hate you Naruto…" There was a short silence.
"Promise…?"
"Promise." She said with a smile. Naruto stood up.
"Hina-chan." Naruto said very sternly. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about so show you…okay?"
"Okay." Naruto lifted up his shirt and focused his chakra causing the Kyubi's seal to be revealed.
"Naruto…" Hinata said wide-eyed. "Is that a…?"
"This is Kyubi." Naruto said looking away. "He was sealed inside me be the fourth Hokage." Silence. Hinata's mouth hung agape. "It's okay if you don't want to keep your promise Hina-chan…I'll understand." He looked down towards the ground.
Hinata was baffled. How could they do that? They ruined Naruto's life when they sealed that thing inside him. Everyone in Konoha had hated him and treated him like he was trash because of that seal. Naruto had never done anything to hurt anyone. Sure he had defaced the Hokage monument on more than one occasion, but nothing to warrant the absolute fear and hatred that had been given to him. Tears started to for in Hinata's eyes.
"You…" Hinata started. "…Don't deserve that thing Naruto…" She wiped her tears away. "You're such an amazing person…" She started to cry again. "Why would they…"
"To save the Village." Naruto said flatly. "It was either me or no one."
"That's too sad…" Hinata said, wiping her eyes again.
"I've come to terms with it…" Naruto said with a forced laugh. "He's not too much of a bastard."
"Hey…" the fox grumbled.
"You can talk to him?"
"Tell her I say hi!"
"Uhh…" Naruto scratched his head. "He says…Hi."
"Um…Hi…Kyubi…san…" Hinata said very, very awkwardly. She didn't know how to react to something that almost destroyed her entire village, which now possessed the boy she had loved for as long as she could remember, saying hi to her. There was a long awkward silence.
"So…you…don't hate me…?" Naruto asked cautiously.
"I could never…EVER hate you Naruto." Naruto sighed and smiled.
"Thanks Hina-chan," He patted her on the head. "That's good to know." Naruto smiled.
"I don't think you could do anything that could ever make me stop lo…" Hinata's face turned bright red as she slapped her hands over her mouth. Not even Naruto was dense enough to miss this slip-up.
"Lo…?" He asked. His heart skipped a beat.
"Lo…lo…. lo……………lo." Hinata's brain went on overload. She had effed up quite badly. Desperately she looked around for something to cover her screw up. "L-Lovely…w-w-w-weather…?" Naruto looked at the haze that surrounded them.
"Hina-chan…what were you really going to say…?"
"Naruto-kun…I…"
"NARUTO-SAMA!!!!" Kanako yelled when she discovered the pair on the cliff. "Neh, Neh, Naruto-sama, why are you talking to this girl up here on this cliff alone? Is she your sister or something?" Naruto was dumbfounded. He had actually found someone who he felt smarter than. (I am going to make you hate this girl as much as I can. Lol)
"Kanako…we look nothing alike…"
"Oh, right." Kanako completely ignored it. "Anyways, Naruto-sama do you wanna go on a date?"
"Excuse me?"
"Let's go on a date!" She said grabbing Naruto's arm.
"Hold on a second." Naruto said, freeing his arm. "I have to check my…" Naruto smiled. "EAT SMOKE BOMB!!" He yelled as he threw a smoke bomb down to the ground. Naruto darted away past Hinata. As he did he whispered, "We'll talk later." Passing the smoke he crossed his fingers to form the seal for his favorite jutsu, "TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!"
"Naruto-sama you're such a tease!!" Kanako said giddily as she ran after on of the clones.
Kaoshi stood, mouth agape. He had just witnessed the strangest turn of events ever. Things when from Naruto and Hinata making up, to Naruto revealing his closest secret, to Hinata accidentally almost saying "love", to Kanako ruining everything by appearing out of nowhere. Kaoshi rubbed his temples. He'll just tell Naruto tomorrow that he'll be training him; he's had a tough day.
Naruto sat alone in his room. What a day. He had officially found a stalker. Now he knew how Sasuke felt when he was back in Konoha. Naruto sighed and flopped onto his bead.
What was she going to say? Lo…ve? It was the only thing that made sense really. However Naruto felt that that was just too perfect to be true. A few days after he realizes he likes a girl, she almost confesses her love to him? The chances of that are quite slim. It must have been something else. But what if…
"GYAAH!!" Naruto put his hands on his face and rolled around in his bead. It was eating him alive.
He looked at the green glowing clock. 1 AM. He sighed. He should probably try to sleep, but he didn't feel tired at all.
The next morning all of the Konoha nin were summoned to the Raikage's office. Naruto had planned to talk to Hinata during the walk there, but Kanako had other plans. The glommed on Naruto the entire walk. Luckily it was a short walk from their quarters to the office. The Raikage greeted them warmly.
"Hello everyone, I'm glad you came." He smiled and motioned for them to sit. "Kanako-chan, would you mind leaving Naruto-kun for a while?"
"Aww…that's no fun!"
"I know but we have important matters to discuss."
"Fine…" Kanako left the room and the Raikage got more serious.
"Now, as you know, Kakashi-dono and I have much to discuss. However he is still being treated and it will still be some time before he is able to properly negotiate. Because of this, I invite you to train with some of our ninja while you wait. You've each been assigned a jounin from our village to train under until we've finished our negotiations. Does anyone have any objections?" There was a short silence. "Excellent. Also, Naruto." Naruto looked at the Man, "I've heard that you're still a genin, correct?"
"Yeah." Naruto nodded.
"Well I'd like to invite you to participate in our chuunin exams which are being held in two years."
"Damn straight I'll go." Naruto said.
"Excellent!" The Raikage said clapping his hands together. "Your instructors are downstairs waiting for you." They were lead downstairs by two guards into a large waiting room. There were four three standing there. There was one man and two women. The man was tall with black hair and green eyes. He wore all black and carried multiple weapons. One woman stood in a very proud manner; she had short pink hair tied back into a ponytail with blue eyes and wore a very licentious outfit that drew the eyes to her curvy physique. The last woman stood in a very dignified way; her long black hair fell past her kimono obi.
"Three…?" Naruto said as he counted the four Konoha ninja. "Uhh….I think you're one short." Kaoshi burst into the room.
"GET YOUR ASSES BACK UPSTAIRS, I'M NOT LATE YOU DUMBASSES, YOU'RE EARLY!!" He carried a long black case under his arm. "Bastards, makin me look bad…"
"It's your dumb fault for being late." The other man snickered.
"Shut up." Kaoshi pointed at the case, "I needed to get something."
"Your dildo collection won't help train anyone."
"ABDEGANDKLJLMDKANVKLIOEANSK!!!" Kaoshi yelled. "I HAVE NO DILDO COLLECTION!!"
The four Konoha ninja were silent. Hinata and Tenten could only think of the striking resemblance to Naruto and Sasuke.
"Anyways," The woman in the licentious outfit said, "We'll be training you." She walked up to Hinata, "Well, I'll be training you,"
"H-Hai." Hinata said hoping that the woman wouldn't try to instill her sense of fashion whilst training her.
"I'm Shinobu," She paused. "Not Shinobu-sensei, got it?"
"H-Hai." Shinobu sighed.
"At least that's outta the way." She looked at Hinata's outfit. "It's such a shame though." She said as she touched Hinata's jacket.
"What…?"
"You've got such nice bazongas but you cover them up." Hinata's face turned bright red.
"B-B-B-B-B-B-B?!" Hinata stuttered, unable to get out the word.
"Bazongas, boobies, tits, whatever you wanna call em." She sighed, "You should show some cleavage hon." Hinata couldn't say anything.
"I don't think Naruto'd mind." Kaoshi said grabbing Naruto's head and putting him into a headlock. Naruto's face turned bright red.
Both Naruto and Hinata were unable to say or do anything except stand there blushing. Tenten poked Sasuke.
"Hey, ya think something happened between them?" Sasuke looked at Tenten with an apathetic look.
"Why the hell should I care?"
"You're no fun at all…" Tenten sighed. She suddenly got smacked. "OW! WHO THE--?!" She looked up to see the woman in the kimono standing in front of her.
"Whispering and talking about others is impolite and I will not tolerate it. At least not while I'm training you." Tenten stared with her mouth agape. "Staring is also impolite, you're on your way to another slap, if you don't want it, straighten up." Tenten snapped to attention.
"Good." The woman smiled. "I am Matoko-sensei, and you shall address me as such."
"Hai, Matoko-sensei."
"Excellent." She motioned for Tenten to follow her. "Pupil and I are on our way to train, you all can stand around being fools for as long as you wish." Tenten and Matoko exited.
"What crawled up her pants and died…" Naruto asked.
"Scorpion." Kaoshi and Shinobu replied together. They looked at each other and smiled.
The last Cloud shinobi walked up to Sasuke.
"Mitamaru."
"Sasuke."
"Let's go."
"Fine."
Mitamaru and Sasuke left.
"Squares." Shinobu said.
"Yeah."
"So I guess you're training me, huh?" Naruto said to Kaoshi.
"Yup!" Kaoshi said with a big smile.
"Guess it's better than those other two." Shinobu laughed.
"Naruto, a puddle of mud has more personality than those two do."
"Hehe."
"Anyways, Naruto." Kaoshi removed the case from under his arm. "This is for you."
"Really?" Naruto took the case. There was a series of latches he had to open to get to the contents. After a moment he opened the case. Inside was a Katana in a black sheathe.
"Kaoshi…" Shinobu said surprised. "Are you…"
"Just a minute." Kaoshi smiled. "Naruto, you need to say goodbye to Hinata-chan."
"Eh?" Naruto asked surprised. "Why?"
"The training I'm going to give you can't have any outside sources of chakra other than the trainee and the sensei until a certain point."
"How long…?"
"Probably about the whole two years."
"Oh…" Shinobu noticed Hinata's head droop slightly.
"But I have to bust a major dookey, so I'll be right back." He started to leave. "Oh Shinobu, there's something on your face."
"Really?" They started off to the bathrooms. "Neh, Kaoshi."
"Hmm?"
"You're really gonna do it?"
"Yeah."
"Is that kid that special?"
"He's something else." Kaoshi smiled. "That kid is destined to be great, I just wanna help him along any way I can."
"You haven't changed at all Kaoshi."
"Why would I have?"
"I figured the six years…when you were with Orochimaru…"
"Please." Kaoshi boasted. "I'm too tough for that kind of shit to affect me."
"I missed you."
"I missed you too." (What's this? Kaoshi's past? Bashinahabawhat?!)
"You just wanted to give those kids time to talk didn't you?"
"No, I really gotta shit." Kaoshi rushed into the bathroom.
"What am I gonna do with him…?" Shinobu sighed with a smile.
Meanwhile, back to Naruto and Hinata.
"So…" Naruto said.
"So…" Hinata replied. After a short silence, "You're gonna do it?"
"Yeah." Naruto said simply.
"I see…"
"Do you not want me to?"
"You want to do it, right?"
"Yeah." Naruto smiled. "I need to become even stronger if I wanna become Hokage." Hinata smiled.
"I'll miss you…" Hinata said blushing.
"I'll miss you too, Hina-chan." Naruto flashed his smile. That smile always made Hinata feel better. "Neh, Hina-chan."
"Yes?"
"About what you were gonna say last night…" A lump grew in Hinata's throat. "I guess what I wanna say is…" Hinata prepared herself for the worst. "You can tell me when you're ready." He patted her on the head. "I'll listen any time."
"Naruto…kun…" She was surprised. Not too long ago he would have probably just pestered her until she told him. He really was growing up. She smiled. "Hai." She couldn't help but love him more and more each day.
"Oi!" Kaoshi yelled. "Naruto-kun, you ready?" Naruto looked at Hinata who smiled at him. He smiled back.
"See ya in Two years Hina-chan."
"Hai." And with those last words, they parted.